According to the two secret service memos revealed yesterday, Poland's richest tycoon, Jan Kulczyk, twice met with Russian spy Vladimir Alganov in Vienna and promised to reverse the government's decision regarding privatization of the Gdansk Refinery.
The memos indicate that Kulczyk assured Alganov that he, "Has all necessary authorization" to hold talks with the Russians on the sale of the refinery, indirectly claiming that he has the support of President Aleksander Kwasniewski, whom he referred to as "The First". Kwasniewski claims that "The First" does not refer to the President, but rather to the Prime Minister, who at the time was Leszek Miller. The memos also reveal that Kulczyk had been negotiating the sale of his stake in oil giant PKN Orlen to Marek Dochnal, a businessman recently arrested in connection with another case. Another revelation from the memos is that regarding the former head of the State Protection Office (UOP), Gromoslaw Czempinski, who reportedly sought a commission of $1 million from Kulczyk for his help in the privatization of TP SA. Kulczyk also told Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, the head of the Intelligence Agency, that Czempinski was his intermediary in contacts with Rotch, a company interested in acquiring the Gdansk Refinery, as well as with Russian oil firm Lukoil. Czempinski admits that he has claims against Kulczyk, but firmly denies that he has participated in any contacts with Lukoil.